Matheesha Pathirana will not line up for Kolkata Knight Riders when the IPL gets underway early next month. Head coach Abhishek Nayar has said the Sri Lankan quick is unlikely to be match-ready before “somewhere mid-April”, meaning KKR could be without their most expensive auction buy for at least three or four games.
Pathirana, ruled out of last year’s T20 World Cup with a calf strain, remains in Colombo for rehabilitation overseen by Sri Lanka Cricket. He managed only three World Cup outings before hobbling off against Australia and has not bowled competitively since.
“The latest update that we know is he’s obviously with the Sri Lankan cricket board and they took out his rehab,” Nayar told reporters at KKR’s pre-season media call. “And the latest communication that we’ve had is, hopefully, somewhere mid-April is when they feel he’ll be match fit. That’s what we know as of now.”
At ₹18 crore, Pathirana was the franchise’s headline purchase after being released by Chennai Super Kings. His ability to bowl rapid, slingy yorkers at the death was expected to balance a spin-heavy attack led by Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. Losing that option straight away is hardly ideal, though Nayar was keen to keep things calm.
“It happens,” he shrugged afterwards, noting that modern schedules make soft-tissue injuries inevitable for fast bowlers asked to zip between formats and continents.
Unfortunately for Knight Riders, Pathirana’s absence is not their only pace headache. Harshit Rana, who filled crucial overs during the title-winning campaign two seasons ago, is recovering from a knee problem picked up in India’s World Cup warm-up against South Africa. There has been no formal withdrawal but Nayar more or less admitted the medical team are not banking on him.
“Firstly, it is a big blow,” Nayar said. “Because Harshit has been an integral part of this team for the last couple of seasons, including the championship season. He’s grown a lot as a cricketer over the years, so it’s not easy to replace him.
“Having said that, over the last few days, we’ve looked at a few bowlers. We’re trying to evaluate, with the help of the leadership group, who fits in and who can do that role to the best of their prowess. We’re still evaluating that and haven’t made that decision yet, but hopefully we’ll identify someone soon who can make a difference to this squad.”
Options on the domestic list include Vaibhav Arora, Akash Deep, Umran Malik and Kartik Tyagi – all of whom have IPL overs under their belts, even if none is quite the like-for-like hitter of yorkers that Pathirana would have been. Dwayne Bravo, now KKR mentor and never short of optimism, believes the cupboard is far from bare.
“In any tournament with any team, once you lose some of the key bowling options, these are things you plan for, but also things you have to accept,” Bravo said. “The good thing about Indian cricket, especially at the moment, is that there is a lot of depth.
“So there are some guys, as the coach mentioned, that we are definitely looking at to fill the spot – the likes of Umran Malik. These guys are also players who have represented the national team at some point in time and have also played in the IPL before.”
KKR must also do without Mustafizur Rahman this term after the BCCI requested his release earlier in the year. Zimbabwe’s Blessing Muzarabani has come in as the overseas replacement but is more of a new-ball bowler than a closing-overs specialist.
All told, the two-time champions will start the season leaning heavily on spin and hoping one of their young Indian quicks grabs the opportunity. Early-season surfaces at Eden Gardens can still offer a little new-ball movement; after that it becomes a question of controlling lengths and taking pace off, skills Narine, Chakravarthy and the emerging Suyash Sharma enjoy anyway.
The schedule, at least, gives Knight Riders a small breather – only one home match in the first fortnight – before the fixtures pile up. If Pathirana is indeed up and running by mid-April, his sling could yet determine their playoff push. For now, though, it is about patching holes, trusting depth and trying not to press the panic button before a ball has even been bowled.
